It’s clear there is no shortage of destinations in and around Dallas-Fort Worth for dinosaur lovers to get their fix. Here you and the kids can get their hands dirty with dino digs (with play fossil in sand), see real historic fossils and experience life-like animatronics too that move and roar themselves (including the Heard’s annual exhibit that reopens in September). Without further ado, these are the top spots for dino fun.
Fort Worth Museum of Science & History
Even the dinosaurs are bigger in Texas. Take our state dino, the Paluxysaurus jonesi, for instance. Just one of its femur bone fossils weighs about 200 pounds! Back when it roamed the Lone Star state, it measured 60 feet long and weighed a whopping 20 tons. You can see it now, in fossil form, on view at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. But that’s far from what the museum has to offer for dino lovers.
You’ll find more skeletons at the DinoLabs, which takes visitors back to prehistoric days by way of new technology. The DinoGlow, for example, is first-ever interactive 3D mapping dinosaur (a Stegosaurus) that lets visitors imagine what it might have looked like—bright colors included. If you don’t mind getting a little sandy, head outdoors to the museum’s mock fossil digging field site called the DinoDig.
1600 Gendy Street, Fort Worth
817/255-9300
fwmuseum.org
Frisco Public Library
The newly reopened Frisco Public Library is pretty massive—at 158,068 square feet, it’s triple the size of the previous library and is the sixth-largest public library in Texas, with a new Tiny Town, Kid’s Club, and MakerSpace—and it’s also now home to a giant centerpiece.
You’ll be awed by Rexy, a life-size model of a female Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, measuring 42 feet long and 22 feet tall. The library’s new attraction was named by library patrons following a naming contest. Rexy was modeled after “Sue” in Chicago’s Field Museum.
8000 Dallas Parkway, Frisco
972/292-5669
friscolibrary.com
Perot Museum of Nature & Science
For dino-obsessed kids, there’s nowhere better than the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. In the T. Boone Pickens Life Then and Now Hall, a towering T. rex and Alamosaurus fossil skeletons greet visitors. That Alamosaurus is the world’s first replica of that dinosaur, and the Perot museum’s paleontologists unearthed a portion of its vertebrae from Big Bend National Park.
In the same hall, you can get up close with rare fossils, visit the Paleo Lab, and see the only full-body reconstruction of Nanuqsaurus hoglundi in the world, among other gargantuan prehistoric creatures like the mammoth and a newly discovered Triceratops-like species named for the Perot family.
For your kids 5 and younger, be sure to head to the bottom floor to the Moody Family Children’s Museum, which also has a dino dig. Grab a shovel, a rake and a vest starting digging.
2201 North Field Street, Dallas
214/428-5555
perotmuseum.org
RELATED: A Guide to the Perot Museum
Dallas Zoo
The Dallas Zoo’s Destination: Dinosaurs, open through September 30, is a half-mile trail where you’ll encounter more than 100 life-size “dinosaurs”—some that even move, growl, hiss, roar or spit! Stroll at your own pace and stop to let the kids search for fossils in the dig box.
650 South R.L. Thornton Freeway, Dallas
469/554-7500
dallaszoo.com/destinationdinosaurs
Dinosaur Valley State Park
Just a little over an hour outside of Dallas is Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, where dinosaurs left their footprints in the mud of what was once an ancient ocean 113 million years ago. Here, kids can walk in the actual tracks of dinosaurs in the bed of the Paluxy River.
Take a trip about an hour southwest and 113 million years back in time at Dinosaur Valley State Park. The real dinosaur tracks are a huge draw, and the hilly, hardscrabble limestone terrain makes for an interesting mix of plant life and wildlife. With group camps, primitive campsites (walk-in and hike-in) and campsites with electricity, you have options for your Glen Rose adventure. Saddle up: There are also equestrian offerings, including assisted trail rides for children ages 3–14.
This park is an especially lovely destinations during the latter part of the year when fall foliage is at its peak.
1629 Park Road 59, Glen Rose
254/897-4588 on-site; 512/389-8900 for reservations
tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/dinosaur-valley
RELATED: Our Favorite Kid-Friendly Museums in Dallas-Fort Worth
Top image courtesy of Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
